Saturday, 13 June 2009

VARIOUS – FRONT & FOLLOW YEAR ONE SAMPLER (FRONT AND FOLLOW)

VARIOUS – FRONT & FOLLOW YEAR ONE SAMPLER (FRONT AND FOLLOW)

Given away free in goodie bags at the Front And Follow showcase at the Union Chapel this four act eight song sampler displays the diverse and adventurous nature of the label and the high quality in place on it’s roster.

Elite Barbarian open proceedings with their dense beats and trickling sound. The two selections come from their “It’s Only When You Get To The End That It Makes Sense” album and are a mesmerising couplet of surround sounds with a whiff of robotic engineering. Best served bold.

Arriving emotively Yonokiero deliver their painfully personal account of existence in the form of their acoustic compositions layered with subtle strings and atmospherics that gives the execution a really full sound. Formerly the masterminds that drove Hirameka Hi-Fi a dual (and duelling) songwriting force here on this occasion the two songs reflect the expertise of each barrel being taken from their magnificent “Blue Apples” album. This is how guitar music should be composed and performed.

The third act featuring on the sampler is cello player Andy Nice who delivers demo versions of tracks that are set to appear on his album “The Secrets Of Me.” The incredible string theory that is attached to his playing transfixes the listener and goads them into witnessing and feeling the moment of treasure as his strings collide into a magnificent soup of generous emotion.

Rounding things off comes Sone Institute who deliver a sample laden groove that echoes the kind of retro lounge that Broadcast and/or Jonny Trunk offer up on a good day. Their second offering on the compilation is reminiscent of a breeze on a summer day and serves to spark the imagination of memories from my youth and cause me to question whether the colours were so vivid after all.